Women make picture books too…
Then, this morning, I noticed that the Goodreads ”Best of” is also virtually all men. In fact, Flora & the Flamingo and The Little Book of Sloth are the only books entirely by women.
And that… is more complicated. Because WE made that list. We, the readers of the world.
Now, if there weren’t a ton of amazing 2013 picture books by women, I could maybe accept this. But there TOTALLY are. Which begs the question… WHAT’S GOING ON?
Do men actually just make better picture books than women? Do men get better marketing and publicity budgets than women for picture books indiasgenerics.com? Or… as I’m beginning to fear… do we, the (largely) women who buy and blog about picture books have a tendency to elevate books by men?
I want to make a list to post today, of the 2013 BEST PICTURE BOOKS BY WOMEN. Help me out? What’s your favorite?
(and for the sake of clarity, I’m only including books with BOTH female authors and illustrators here. Though obviously I’m in support of men and women working together…)
(also, I removed all self-nominated books, including my own. For the sake of setting some guidelines)
City Cat, by Lauren Castillo
Jane, the Fox, and Me, by Fanny Britt and Isabelle Arsenault
If You Want to See a Whale, by Julie Fogliano and Erin Stead
Dream Animals, by Emily Winfield Martin
How To, by Julie Morstad
Whimsy’s Heavy Things, by Julie Kraulis
How to Be a Cat, by Nikki McClure
Happy Birthday, Bunny, by Liz Garton Scanlon & Stephanie Graegin
Steadfast Tin Soldier, retold by Cynthia Rylant, art by Jen Corace
Octopus Alone, by Divya Srinivasan
Sophie’s Squash, by Pat Zietlow Miller, art by Anne Wilsdorf
The Wee Hours, by Stephanie Watson, art by Mary GrandPre
Mustache Baby, by Bridget Heos, art by Joy Ang
Nino Wrestles the World, by Yuyi Morales
God Got a Dog, Cynthia Rylant, art by Marla Frazee
Flora & the Flamingo, by Molly Idle
My Blue is Happy, by Jessica Young, art by Catia Chien
Dream Friends, You Byun
The Boy Who Loved Math, by Deborah Heiligman, art by Leuyen Pham
A Splash of Red, by Jen Bryant, art by Melissa Sweet
Wild, by Emily Hughes
The Story of Fish and Snail, by Deborah Freedman
Inside Outside, by Lizi Boyd
Fraidyzoo, by Thyra Heder
Vampirina Ballerina Hosts a Sleepover, by Anne Marie Pace, art by Leuyen Pham
Water in the Park, by Emily Jenkins, art by Stephanie Graegin.
Willow Finds a Way, by Lana Button, art by Tania Howells
Nora’s Chicks, by Patricia MacLachlan, art by Kathryn Brown
Once Upon a Northern Night, by Jean E. Pendziwol, art by Isabelle Arsenault
Read me a Story, Stella, by Marie Louise Gay
LIttle Red Writing, by Joan Holub, art by Melissa Sweet
Rock a Bye Room, by Susan Meyers, art by Amy Bates
Whale Shines, by Fiona Robinson
Miss Maple’s Seeds, by Eliza Wheeler
Bits and Pieces, by Judy Schachner
If You Hold a Seed, by Elly MacKay
Cinders, by Jan Brett
How Big Were Dinosaurs, by Lita Judge
Gifts of the Heart, by Patricia Polacco
Downpour, by Emily Martin, art by Mara Shaugnhessy
Tallulah’s Toe Shoes, by Marilyn Singer, art by ALexandra Boiger
Hank Finds an Egg, by Rebecca Dudley
Tap the Magic Tree, by Christie Matheson
Peace, Baby, by Linda Ashman, art by Joanne Lew-Vriethoff
The Case of the Missing Donut, by Allison McGhee, art by Isabel Roxas
The Line, by Paula Bossio
Beatrice Spells Some Lulus and Learns to Write a Letter, by Cari Best, art by Giselle Potter
Ding Dong Gorilla, by Michelle Robinson, art by Leonie Lord
Please Bring Balloons, by Lindsay Ward
It’s a Firefly Night, by Dianne Ociltree, art by Betsy Snyder
Odd DUck, by Cecil Castelucci, art by Sarah Varon
What the Heart KNows, by Joyce Sidman, art by and Pamela Zagarenski
FOREST HAS A SONG by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater, art by Robbin Gourley
FOLLOW, FOLLOW by Marilyn Singer, art by Josée Masse
Scaly Spotted Feathered Frilled: How do we know what dinosaurs really looked like?, by Catherine Thimmesh
I’d Know You Anywhere, My Love, by Lynne Tillman
Spark, by Kallie George, art by Genevieve Cote
Time for Bed, Fred, by Yasmeen Ismail
Once Upon a Memory, by Nina Laden, art by Renata Liwska
Deep in the Sahara, by Kelly Cunnane and Hoda Hadadi
Brush of the Gods, by Lenore Look and Meilo So
Penguin Cha-cha, by Kristi Valiant
Brave Girl, by Michelle Market, art by Melissa Sweet
Open This Little Book, by Jesse Klausmeier , art by Suzy Lee
Razia’s Ray of Hope, by Elizabeth Suneby, art by Suana Verelst
Is This Panama? By Jan Thornhill, art by Soyeon Kim
Henri’s Scissors, by Jeanette Winter
Seriously, keep adding titles! We’ll make a Goodreads list later.
And I’d like to add that I’m a HUGE FAN of the books on Geek Dad’s list. These are some of my favorite authors and illustrators too. But the list is incomplete.
Let’s fix that.
November 24th, 2013 at 8:33 am
Great post, Laurel.
Off the top of my head:
Julie Morstad’s How To.
Julie Kraulis’s Whimsy’s Heavy Things
Emily Winfield Martin’s Dream Animals
And I love Jane, The Fox and Me and everything else Isabelle Arsenault has done. Do you know her Virgina Wolf with Kyo Maclear?
November 24th, 2013 at 8:50 am
And the funny books! Why aren’t there more women writing hysterically funny books, I ask you? I love THE PET PROJECT by Lisa Wheeler and illustrated by Zachariah OHora and TEA PARTY RULES by Ame Dyckman and illustrated by K.G. Campbell. OH! Also HOW TO BE A CAT by Nikki McClure. And Cynthia Rylant’s version of STEADFAST TIN SOLDIER, illustrated by Jen Corace.
November 24th, 2013 at 8:55 am
Also HAPPY BIRTHDAY BUNNY by Liz Garton Scanlon, illustrated by Stephanie Graegin. My daughter insisted on getting a rocking zebra for her third birthday because of that sweet book. (You know how easy it is to find a rocking zebra? Not easy, let me tell you.)
November 24th, 2013 at 9:22 am
OCTOPUS ALONE by Divya Srinivasan.
November 24th, 2013 at 9:36 am
My 2013 PB release, KING OF THE ZOO, is also woman-illustrated (the fabulous Jackie Urbanovic, of DUCK AT THE DOOR fame). Love this thread, and will think of more 2013 women-created PBs (Jackie Woodson’s THIS IS THE ROPE comes to mind, plus SOPHIE’S SQUASH).
November 24th, 2013 at 9:39 am
I love Stephanie Watson’s THE WEE HOURS, illustrated by Mary GrandPre.
November 24th, 2013 at 9:53 am
Mustache Baby! By Bridget Heos and Joy Ang. So funny. Gorgeous illustrations.
November 24th, 2013 at 10:20 am
The books of Margaret Wise Brown’s books have been loved by several generations. Goodnight Moon, The Little Fur Family, Runaway Bunny. Also, Beatrix Potter. Do couples count? I love Janet & Allan Ahlberg’s Jolly Postman & Each Peach, Pear, Plum. Millions of Cats by Wanda Gag.
Not a picture book but a kids book – My Father’s Dragon written & illustrated by Ruth Stiles Gannett.
If you’re counting illustrators, I love Harry the Dirty Dog, pictures by Margaret Bloy Graham.
November 24th, 2013 at 10:32 am
My favorite of 2013 is SOPHIE’S SQUASH by Pat Zietlow Miller, illustrated by Anne Wilsdorf. Can’t wait to see the new improved list!
November 24th, 2013 at 10:40 am
For 2013? Author-illustrator Yuyi Morales’ NINO WRESTLES THE WORLD, Cynthia Rylant’s GOD GOT A DOG, illus by Marla Frazee. Author-illustrator Molly Idle’s FLORA & THE FLAMINGO, Andrea Beaty’s ROSIE REVERE, ENGINEER. My books are all packed up, but I’ll list more as I remember them.
November 24th, 2013 at 10:42 am
MY BLUE IS HAPPY by Jessica Young, illustrated by Catia Chien.
November 24th, 2013 at 11:18 am
i sooo agree!!! i am going to pull together a list but really think you have raised such important questions which need exploration. thank you!!!!
November 24th, 2013 at 12:08 pm
Byron loves STEAM TRAIN DREAM TRAIN by Shari Duskey Rinker and DREAM FRIENDS by You Byun (that ones’ a favorite of mine, too. The pictures are mesmerizing.)
November 24th, 2013 at 12:34 pm
Andrea Beatty’s ROSIE REVERE, ENGINEER is whoa. And huge, huge, huge fan of everything Melissa Sweet this year. And Jennifer Berne’s ON A BEAM OF LIGHT. Oh, and Emily Hughes’ WILD.
November 24th, 2013 at 2:12 pm
I love THE BOY WHO LOVED MATH by Deb Heiligman and LeUyen Pham–the math in the art is astounding. SOPHIE’S SQUASH by Pat Zietlow Miller and Anne Wilsdorf might be my fave of the year for sheer sweetness laced with lots of wit. Loved TEA PARTY RULES by Ame Dyckman and K.G. Campbell (though he is a guy, I believe).
November 24th, 2013 at 2:33 pm
I love Deborah Freeman’s The story of Fish and Snail
November 24th, 2013 at 3:22 pm
BITS AND PIECES by Judith Byron Schachner is gorgeous.
November 24th, 2013 at 3:25 pm
Gosh, so many beautiful 2013 books, but to name a few off the top of my head…I loved If You Hold A Seed by Elly MacKay, If You Want to See a Whale, by Julie Fogliano and Erin Stead, The Night Before Christmas, illustrated by Barbara Reid.
November 24th, 2013 at 3:50 pm
Oh, FARMER WILL AND THE GROWING TABLE! Jackie Briggs Martin.
November 24th, 2013 at 4:02 pm
May I add my own? PENGUIN CHA-CHA by Kristi Valiant, published by Random House.
November 24th, 2013 at 4:50 pm
Great post! I also think that the problem is stemming from some unintentional sexism we all carry around that values male produced artwork more than female (and not that somehow females are writing and illustrating less well than males.)
I loved:
Miss Maples Seeds by Eliza Wheeler
and
Holly Hobbie’s The Night Before Christmas (isbn: 0316070181)
November 24th, 2013 at 5:01 pm
Oh and Sandra Boynton’s Frog Trouble!
November 24th, 2013 at 5:25 pm
Little Red Writing by Jane Holub and Melissa Sweet, Rock-a-Bye Room by Susan Meyers and Amy Bates, Whale Shines by Fiona Robinson, Lucy Cousins, ICaptain Cat by nga Moore, and the beautiful Fall Walk by Virginia Brimhall Snow.
November 24th, 2013 at 5:58 pm
Like Erica and Kristi, may I add mine? Slithery Snakes, Hatch!, Busy Builders, EcoMAZES, Go!Go!Go, and a couple dozen more ….;-))
November 24th, 2013 at 6:51 pm
Love! One of my favourites The Boy who Loved Math is here already Yippee! Also love Once upon a Northern Night by Jean E. Pendziwol and illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault. Read me a Story Stella Marie Louise Gay, Nora’s Chicks by Patricia MacLachlan and Willow Finds a Way by Lana Button. So appreciate this list! Will share widely!
November 24th, 2013 at 9:13 pm
Funny that I have recently been putting just such a list together, not funny that it has been so noticable to both of us. The list is on my desktop, I’ll add here when I get the chance.
November 24th, 2013 at 9:37 pm
_Red Sled_ (Lita Judge) also her new book _How Big were Dinosaurs?_
_Pumpkin, Pumpkin_ (Jeanne Titherington)
and of course, Margaret Wise Brown . . .
November 24th, 2013 at 11:16 pm
I’m biased of course. Sarah Brannen’s Uncle Bobby’s Wedding and Lisa Kopelke’s Excuse me would be at the top. As well as Lisa Wheeler and Ponder Gamboel’s Sailor Moo or Linda Smith and Marlee Frazee’s Mrs. Biddlebox. Or ANYTHING by Ruth Sanderson. They Call Her Molly Pitcher by Anne Rockwell and Cynthia Von Buhler… Ugly by Donna Jo Napoli and Lita Judge. Rechenka’s Eggs and anything else by Patricia Polacco. Stella Luna, Verdi, Crickwing and Penduli by Janell Cannon.
November 24th, 2013 at 11:18 pm
Oops, I missed the part where it was from this year. There are so many wonderful books by women, and I absolutely agree with your point. Sorry!
November 25th, 2013 at 8:09 am
MERMAIDS ON PARADE by Me (Melanie Hope Greenberg) and a bunch of other books, too.
November 25th, 2013 at 8:41 am
Brainpickings is featuring Jane, the Fox and Me today! http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/11/25/jane-the-fox-and-me/
November 25th, 2013 at 8:52 am
I just read Jane the Fox and Me last night and immediately thought of you and Susan when she makes the buddy at the camp. Terrific book. Also glad to see Jenn Corace’s book on your list and basically everything on there. You have great taste! There were a few I had not seen so I’ll be sure to keep my eyes peeled.
November 25th, 2013 at 9:03 am
I know girl-focused books don’t usually make best-of lists either, but both my four-year-old girl and my 9-year-old boy have been loving the Tallulah books by Marilyn Singer, illustrated by Alexandra Boiger. The ones that came out this year are “Tallulah’s Toe Shoes” and “Tallulah’s Nutcracker”. We also enjoyed “Hank Finds an Egg” by Rebecca Dudley and “Tap the Magic Tree” by Christie Matheson.
November 25th, 2013 at 9:07 am
So glad you brought our attention to this, Laurel. One of my favorite picture book writers is Linda Ashman. Her technique and vision in writing her many picture books is truly inspiring.
November 25th, 2013 at 9:27 am
Just from the pile on my desk awaiting review on my blog:
Bobo the Sailor Man! by Eileen Rosenthal
The Case of the Missing Donut by Alison McGhee
The Line by Paula Bossio
Beatrice Spells Some Lulus and Learns to Write a Letter by Cari Best
Ding Dong Gorilla! by Michelle Robinson
Year of the Jungle by Suzanne Collins
November 25th, 2013 at 9:52 am
Can I immodestly add Baby Bear Counts One, which I wrote and illustrated?
November 25th, 2013 at 10:29 am
i love love love this list. and no i didn’t even know of half the books on this list! but i spent the year in france, and i saw the jane the fox book while there and even stumbled through it in french. another frenchie to look out for is charlotte gastaut. i don’t think her books are interpreted here yet, but DAMN she’s GOOD!
November 25th, 2013 at 11:32 am
Love it, Laurel! Thank you for making this list!
November 25th, 2013 at 11:35 am
Tea Party Rules by Ame Dyckman
Cowpoke Clyde and Dirty Dawg by Lori Mortensen
Steam Train, Dream Train by Sherri Duskey Rinker
I’d Know You Anywhere, My Love by Nancy Tillman — Great List!!!
November 25th, 2013 at 11:51 am
What a great post. I must add Catherine Thimmesh’s, Scaly Spotted Feathered Frilled: How do we know what dinosaurs really looked like? She wrote Girls Think of Everything. Indeed, they do!
November 25th, 2013 at 12:06 pm
I hope you will include poetry picture books on this list, of which there are MANY gorgeous examples by women. Such as:
2013
WHAT THE HEART KNOWS: CHARMS, CHANTS, AND BLESSINGS by Joyce Sidman and Pamela Zagarenski
FOREST HAS A SONG by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater and Robbin Gourley
FOLLOW, FOLLOW by Marilyn Singer and Josée Masse
2012 and before
RED SINGS FROM TREETOPS by Joyce Sidman and Pamela Zagarenski
A LEAF CAN BE by Laura Purdie Salas and Violeta Dabija
BOOKSPEAK! POEMS ABOUT BOOKS by Laura Purdie Salas and Josee Bisaillon
WATER SINGS BLUE by Kate Coombs and Meilo So
MIRROR, MIRROR by Marilyn Singer and Josée Masse
AT THE SEA FLOOR CAFE and HEY THERE, STINK BUG! by by Leslie Bulion and Leslie Evans
November 25th, 2013 at 1:14 pm
Wow! Awesome list! I’ve read and loved many of these, but see that I have quite a few still to check out. Thank you for including Mustache Baby.
November 25th, 2013 at 1:47 pm
Great list! Another powerful book just released, ONCE UPON A MEMORY, by Nina Laden, illustrated by Renata Liwska, Little, Brown & Company December 2013. Received a starred review from Kirkus. The F and G gave me goose bumps and misty eyes. Gorgeous illustrations from Renata. Also the quirky and delightful HENNY by Elizabeth Rose Stanton, Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books (Ships first week in January). The F and G had me laughing all the way through.
November 25th, 2013 at 2:01 pm
well just thought i would add Atinukes books to the list.
“Anna Hibiscus Song”
and “splash Anna hibiscus”
their illustrated by a woman too (me)
November 25th, 2013 at 2:06 pm
and not forgetting my favorite at the moment
“time for bed Fred” by Yasmeen Ismail
November 25th, 2013 at 2:27 pm
OK, I’m not sure how this list was assembled but I don’t recognize ANY of these books. Seriously. And we have a 4-year-old GIRL who LOVES books!
How is it that we have a small library of picture books and I don’t see any in this list that we’ve read? My wife makes a bi-monthly pilgrimage to our local library to reserve/pick up the ones that interest us; are the libraries not stocking many of these? Where are they promoted? Or are they all ebooks?
Maybe we’re just suckers of marketing and aren’t seeing the other good stuff out there. A bit confuzzled.
November 25th, 2013 at 2:36 pm
I LOVE The Penguin Cha-Cha by author / illustrator Kristi Valiant. I mean who doesn’t love a mischievous group of dancing penguins? Bought several of these as Christmas gifts this year.
November 25th, 2013 at 3:04 pm
Emlyn,
This list was compiled simply by me posting last night that I wanted people to tell me their favorite female-made titles for 2013. SO each of these is someone else’s fave.
Not only are these mainstream titles from mostly major houses, but a lot of them are by award winning and bestselling artists and authors. Why we (and I’m in the same club as you– I don’t know most of them) aren’t hearing about them, I don’t know…
November 25th, 2013 at 3:26 pm
I’m thinking of Lane Smith, Emily Gravett, Molly Bang, Mem Fox, Margaret Wild, Julie Vivas, Jane Ray, Louise Yates, Jane Yolen, Margaret Wise Brown, Charlotte Zolotow, Melanie Watts, Niamh Sharkey etc etc
November 25th, 2013 at 3:50 pm
Great list, but for the record, Lane Smith is a dude. A very talented dude.
November 25th, 2013 at 9:17 pm
How about Open This Little Book by Jesse Klausmeier and Suzy Lee? and–thank you for this list!
November 25th, 2013 at 10:33 pm
Hi Laurel,
I reviewed 2 excellent books written and illustrated by Women that I would loved to see win a prize. One is called “Is This Panama?: A migration story” and the second “Razia’s Ray of Hope”.
Thank you for the list. Of course if we had to step back in time, I could added many many more excellent award worthy books to the list!
-Reshama @ Stackingbooks
November 27th, 2013 at 9:25 am
Wow. What a beautiful list! There are many that I haven’t had a chance to check out. Thank you, Laurel.
November 27th, 2013 at 9:49 pm
Brava!
I’d add to your stunning list, author-illustrator Carol Heyer’s Humphrey’s First Christmas.
November 28th, 2013 at 7:51 am
Heyer’s book didn’t pub this year. I’m trying to keep this list all new titles.
November 29th, 2013 at 2:08 pm
I don’t think anyone mentioned Jeanette Winter’s new book HENRI’S SCISSORS?
November 29th, 2013 at 4:11 pm
Thanks! I added it.
November 29th, 2013 at 8:57 pm
MUSTACHE BABY is a definite fave, as is FLORA THE FLAMINGO. Envy the flow in Pace’s VAMPIRINA BALLERINA series too.
November 29th, 2013 at 9:03 pm
And not on your list, adore Ame Dyckman’s TEA PARTY RULES.
November 29th, 2013 at 9:56 pm
Somewhat pertinent to this list: ‘Not All Princesses Dress in Pink’ by Jane Yolen, Heidi E. Y. Stemple and Anne-Sophie Lanquetin
November 30th, 2013 at 12:07 am
Great list! My kids and I have read several books on your list and now you’re giving me ideas for more.
I would add a few:
Llama llama and the bully goat
Exclamation mark (great book!!!)
Year of the jungle
November 30th, 2013 at 1:06 pm
Great list – I’m bookmarking this.
December 2nd, 2013 at 4:18 am
I think your list is fabulous and can’t get over how many amazing 2013 books you could find. My personal favorite is Forest Has a Song by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater. The poems tell a story and the illustrations are simply lovely. So many titles to choose from!
December 2nd, 2013 at 10:42 pm
Great list! What a compilation!
You’ve left me wondering why, and there’s no apparent reason.
Anyway, great books are great books.
What makes this phenomena (men dominating the lists you cited) was that I was called a ‘she’ during a webinar tonight. HA! I didn’t correct the host.
December 3rd, 2013 at 9:12 pm
Isabella, Star of the Story by Jen Fosberry is another great one. The whole series is one of my daughter’s favorites.
December 4th, 2013 at 1:21 pm
Great list. And I’m very happy to see Canadian titles on this list, too. May I be so bold as to mention my own title, published Oct 2013 by Scholastic Canada? I’m rather proud of it. NEVER LET YOU GO, written and illustrated by Patricia Storms.
December 4th, 2013 at 3:49 pm
I’m so excited about it!! But I made a rule people couldn’t add themselves (hence my own books aren’t on here)
December 8th, 2013 at 4:04 pm
Ooops. Sorry. Got excited & didn’t read the post properly. Well, let me mention The Stamp Collector by Jennifer Lanthier. A beautiful picture book which is getting a lot of attention. Oh, and one more – The Man with the Violin by Kathy Stinson.
December 21st, 2013 at 9:20 am
I have really enjoyed catching up on books I missed using this post! Thank you!
I just read and fell in love with How to Hide a Lion by Helen Stephens, first published in the US in 2013.
December 29th, 2013 at 10:40 am
Some things just don’t change. I’ve been sad about this disparity for decades. Count the Caldecott and Newbery winners for gender inequality.